Mitt Romney is expected to duck the awkward issue of what he would do about illegal immigration when he appears in Florida before one of the biggest Latino conferences in the country.

Romney, with no plan of his own for dealing with illegal immigration, is planning to resolve his dilemma by focusing primarily on the economy rather than immigration.

A press release published by his campaign only hours before he was scheduled to speak offered a glimpse of the line he is expected to take, stressing the impact of the recession on Latino voters.

Romney was wrong-footed by Obama's announcement last Friday to lift the threat of deportation from 800,000 young Latinos and open the way for them to receive work permits. The move undermined a more modest plan being considered by the Romney campaign team and Florida senator Marco Rubio that has now been scrapped.

Romney is also caught between a need to win over Latino voters and keep onside the Republican base, which tends to favour tough anti-immigrant laws. He has so far refused to say whether he would repeal Obama's move on young undocumented Latinos.

The Romney campaign said that Romney will focus in his speech on the economy and immigration. Obama is scheduled to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference Friday.

In a press release, the Romney campaign said that in the four years since Obama last spoke to the conference millions of Latinos have been left without jobs and in poverty.

"From day one, Mitt Romney will enact policies that get our economy moving again for Hispanics and all Americans," Alberto Martinez, a Romney campaign spokesman. The campaign said that unemployment among Hispanics had risen from 7.7% to 11%.

As well as Romney and Obama, the conference is scheduled to be addressed by Rubio, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and present governor Rick Scott.

There was embarrassment for Romney this morning when Bloomberg reported that the Romney campaign asked Scott to tone down his comment about improving job figures. According to Bloomberg, the Romney campaign asked Scott to say that the job rate would get better in Romney presidency.

Republican governors are torn between trumpeting improvements in job rates in their states and support for Romney's position of scepticism that the job situation is improving.

Bloomberg said a Romney adviser made the request to Scott's staff this week after a drop in unemployment in May to 8.6% from 8.7%.